Dissertations available from ProQuest

Conditionals as a discourse-bound entity: Pragmatics of Korean conditionals

Chang-Bong Lee — Wed, 22 May 2013 16:29:37 PDT

The strong semantic tradition of conditional studies in conjunction with the dominant focus on the data of English conditionals has led us to view conditionals mainly as a truth-functional semantic entity. This study is meant to provide substantial evidence to argue that conditionals are not simply understood as a truth-functional entity but rather that they must be understood in the dynamic domain of discourse in which individuals with different beliefs interact with each other. Empirical evidence is presented mainly from the analysis of the data of conditionals in Korean, which is then contrasted with that of English and Japanese. This thesis analyzes the corpus data of Korean conditionals under pragmatic perspectives and aims to shed light on the universal understanding of conditionals. We will observe that there is a systematic division of labor among various forms of conditional markers in Korean. It will be argued that the choice of different conditional markers is governed by such pragmatic factors: (1) the speaker's HYPOTHETICALITY attitude over the truth (probability) of p or his/her (UN)DESIRABLE STANCE towards p in the 'p-conditional marker, q' structure; (2) the MODALITY expressed in the conditional sentence; and (3) the INFORMATION STATUS of the conditional antecedent in the flow of discourse. In addition, this thesis also studies the relation of conditionals to TOPICS as they are understood as discourse-bound entities. Focusing on the data of Korean conditionals, it will be argued that conditionals cannot be uniformly defined as topics (GIVEN information), contra Haiman (1978), but rather their information status can be viewed as carrying NEW or INFERRABLE information as well as GIVEN information. We also argue that the information status of conditionals is closely tied with the speaker's choice of clause order in a given discourse context. ^

Linguistic variation and territorial functioning: A study of the Korean honorific system

Jeonghwa Kim-Park — Wed, 22 May 2013 16:29:30 PDT

In this dissertation, I approach the Korean honorific system as a variation phenomenon from the functionalist perspective with its emphasis on context and use. In the exposition of the Korean honorific system, I employ the concept of social distance stemming from what Hall (1959:60) calls an infra-cultural activity. It will be shown that the concept can encompass both the vertical and horizontal dimensions of human interaction as well as behavioral patterns due to speaker characteristics, interpersonal relationship, and other contextual features in the speech situation. I try to show how social distance plays a crucial role in the coordinative mechanism of linguistic variation, mediating the individual and social dimensions.^ The Korean honorific system integrally involves overt grammatical categories and their relationships which penetrate various sectors of grammar. Presenting honorifics as a system of sets of variables covarying with social structure, I argue that linguistic variation is an indispensable property of language; and that inherent variability is at the root of unilingual linguistic competence and community grammar. Chapter 7 will show how the model constructed on the notion of social distance provides explanation of variegated sociolinguistic patterns studied in various parts of the world. I argue for mutual interpenetration of language and social structure and advocate the study of language as a cultural entity in its social matrix. ^

The apical cytoskeleton of {\it Toxoplasma gondii}: Structural and biochemical characterization of elements associated with the conoid and subpellicular microtubules

Naomi Susan Morrissette — Wed, 22 May 2013 16:29:28 PDT

The protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii is a highly polarized and motile organism, but little is known of the structural basis for these essential properties. Invasion of host cells by this obligate intracellular pathogen is thought to be facilitated by a specialized complex of apical organelles. The apical cytoskeleton includes the conoid and twenty-two subpellicular microtubules which spiral from the apex along the cytoplasmic face of the parasite's pellicle. This thesis investigates aspects of the apical cytoskeleton through characterization of antigens associated with the conoid and subpellicular microtubules, and by structural analysis of the association between subpellicular microtubules and a lattice of intramembranous particles found in the parasite's inner membrane complex.^ Six classes of monoclonal antibodies recognizing the extreme apical region of T. gondii were identified, including three classes which label membranous organelles (micronemes and the upper necks of rhoptries) and three which label the cytoskeleton. These latter antibodies recognize a family of insoluble, heat-labile antigens (68 to $>$200 kD in size) associated with the conoid, subpellicular microtubules and pellicle. Based on structural analysis, association of subpellicular microtubules with the parasite pellicle appears to be mediated by a lattice of yet-to-be-defined components. Computed diffraction patterns of freeze-fracture electron microscopic images reveal a lattice of intramembranous particles with a vertical repeat of 32 nm. Using Fourier analysis of images from frozen-hydrated preparations of isolated subpellicular microtubules, a 32 nm periodicity was also observed for microtubule-associated proteins. The horizontal axis of the intramembranous particle lattice (oriented at approximately 75$\sp\circ$ with respect to the vertical axis) suggests that additional filaments are required for maintenance of this array. Integrity of the particle lattice is independent of microtubules and actin filaments. The particle lattice defined here may form a scaffolding for stable association of subpellicular microtubules with the parasite pellicle, providing a basis for the maintenance of apical polarity and a mechanism for parasite motility. ^

Spectral curves and integrable systems

Eyal Markman — Wed, 22 May 2013 16:29:09 PDT

We study the existence of Algebraically Completely Integrable Hamiltonian System (ACIHS) structures on the moduli spaces $M\sb{L}(r,d)$ of stable L-twisted Higgs pairs over a smooth algebraic curve $\Sigma.$ These spaces parametrize pairs consisting of a vector bundle of rank r and degree d and an endomorphism twisted by a line bundle L. An invariant polynomial map gives rise to a fibration of $M\sb{L}(r,d)$ with a Jacobian of a spectral curve as a generic fibre.^ We show that a canonical family of ACIHS structures exists whenever the twisting line bundle L is bigger than the canonical line bundle.^ The Moduli space ${\cal U}\sb\Sigma(r,d,D)$ of vector bundles with level structures over a divisor D in the linear system $\IP H\sp0(\Sigma,L\otimes K\sp{-1})$ is key to understanding the geometry of our systems. The Poisson structure on $M\sb{L}(r,d)$ is obtained via symplectic reduction from the canonical symplectic structure on $\vert T\sp*{\cal U}\sb\Sigma(r,d,D)\vert.$^ Our construction specializes to the Hitchin system when L is the canonical line bundle, Beauville's system when the base curve is $P\sp1.$ It is equivalent to a construction of Reyman and Semenov-Tian-Shansky when the base curve is elliptic and r,d are coprime. Many known ACIHS's, classical as well as recently discovered (e.g., the spaces of KP Elliptic solitons), embed as symplectic leaves of the systems with rational and elliptic base curves. ^

Style and gesture: A study of melodic peaks

Zohar Eitan — Wed, 22 May 2013 16:29:02 PDT

An empirical approach to the discussion of melodic contour as an expressive and structural factor in music is proposed. Underlying this approach is the assumption that contour, if indeed it is an important factor in music, should have an identifiable relation to the organization of other musical dimensions. Correspondingly, two specific hypotheses are suggested. (1) Conspicuous points along the melodic curve--and its peak in particular--are frequently set apart from other points by their association with specific parametric configurations. (2) Melodic peaks are frequently related to elements and relations which convey emphasis or tension (characteristics which have been associated with pitch highpoints in both musical and extra-contexts, such as speech intonation).^ These hypotheses were tested statistically in selections from three very different repertories: Haydn's early (pre-1766) music, Chopin's Waltzes and Mazurkas, and Berg's post-tonal and dodecaphonic works (including the Lyric Suite and Lulu). In each repertory, relevant durational, metric, intervallic, and (in Haydn and Chopin) tonal-functional features were examined in two groups: a group of melodic peaks, and a control group, comprising randomly selected notes. Using a chi-square analysis, the frequencies of these features in the two groups were compared.^ Results indicate: (1) Despite the immense differences among the styles examined, all distinguish peaks from other melodic notes by specific parametric configurations. In particular, peaks cross-stylistically tend to be surrounded by relatively large intervals, and to be presented once only in a segment. (2) The inclination to present peaks emphatically (for instance, by agogic or metrical accents) and the tendency to associate them with climatic and tensional configurations, are the weakest in Haydn and the strongest in Berg. (3) Despite their disparate pitch-grammars, tonal and non-tonal repertories (Berg and Chopin) exhibit close similarity regarding the treatment and functions of peaks. In contrast, the two tonal repertories (Haydn and Chopin) present considerable differences in this respect.^ Results suggest that "natural," non-syntactic dimensions of melodic style, such as contour, may be relatively independent of pitch-syntax. Further, they indicate that some non-syntactic, gestural features of melody may apply cross-stylistically, at least within Western music. ^

Contextualizing the character: Generic studies of text and canon, rhetoric, style, and quantitative analysis in the seventeenth century English prose character

Charles Albert Scheuringer Ernst — Wed, 22 May 2013 16:28:50 PDT

The intent of the study is to contextualize the seventeenth-century English prose character as a significant object of critical inquiry through the textual, generic, canonical, rhetorical, and stylistic traditions informing it. Moreover, the first quantitative analysis of the character's structure and (prospectively) of its style aims at a generic "modeling" of the character by the enumerative inventories of descriptive statistics.^ Chapter One places character studies within contemporary theory and criticism. Chapter Two considers the economy of texts in publishing records of character books by Joseph Hall, the Overburians, John Stephens, Nicholas Breton, John Earle, and Richard Brathwait, and provides an updated survey of scholarship on the character. Chapter Three clarifies, against the background of type charactery, the "universe" of characters forming the canon of the "charactering" genre by surveying texts from 319 B.C. (the Theophrastan sketches) to 1710-12, a terminus ad quem accommodating later criticism of the character's style.^ Chapter Four shows how type charactery was preserved through rhetorical instruction from classical antiquity to the Renaissance in treatments of epideictic oratory, decorum, and figures of characterization and description, culminating in the eventual transmission of character-writing into the English grammar school curriculum by the hitherto unacknowledged influence of Joshua Poole's English Parnassus (1657), along with Ralph Johnson's frequently cited Scholar's Guide (1665). Chapter Five inscribes the character within the linguistic history and stylistic development of Renaissance England by establishing the "charactering" style as a variant of Baroque prose and, more parochially, of English Senecanism, with attention to the latter's stylistic relation to Euphuism and to the hybrid style of Thomas Adams' characters.^ Chapter Six provides the first quantitative study of the character's structure by systematically analyzing six complete textual populations (by Hall, the Overburians, Stephens, Breton, Earle, and Brathwait) to obtain a census of numerical data establishing a normative range of values for selected structural components. Chapter Seven considers the character as a quantitative model of English Senecanism by theorizing the basis for a stylo-statistical profile of character-writing from a numerical census of syntactic variables in complete populations. Chapter Eight summarizes all findings. ^

A sample-path approach to time-average Markov decision processes

Melike Baykal-Gursoy — Wed, 22 May 2013 16:28:49 PDT

Time-average Markov decision problems are considered for the finite state and action spaces. Several definitions of variability are introduced and compared. For multichain case, it is shown that a stationary policy maximizes one of the criteria, namely, the expected long-run average variability. An algorithm which uses a decomposition approach to locate such an optimal policy is given. The algorithm produces an optimal pure policy under convexity conditions for the variability function. The unichain semi-Markov decision processes are examined. It is shown that a stationary policy maximizes the expected average reward subject to the condition that the long-run average cost is below certain level with probability 1. A fractional program is presented which produces such an optimal stationary policy. Two-person zero-sum stochastic games are also considered. In the case that only one player controls the transition probabilities, stationary policies are shown to exist which give the saddle-point solution for multichained expected long-run average reward. An algorithm using the decomposition theory is developed to find optimal stationary policies for both players. In the case that both players control the transition probabilities a generalized game is obtained. The solution of this game gives optimal stationary policies for the players if the game is irreducible. ^

SILKS AND SIMPLICITY: A STUDY OF QUAKER DRESS AS DEPICTED IN PORTRAITS, 1718-1855

LEANNA LEE-WHITMAN — Wed, 22 May 2013 16:28:43 PDT

Studies of Quaker costume have always been hampered by a general lack of visual evidence and fragmentary written documentation. Accepted forms of American Quaker formal dress in the Colonial (1718-1775), the Early Republic (1776-1826), and the nineteenth-century period after the Orthodox-Hicksite Split (1827-1855) were taken from depictions of sixty portraits of Quakers. Comparisons to contemporary non-Quaker costumes, non-Quaker portraits, and evaluation of contemporary formal edicts and personal writings, as well as Philadelphia Monthly Meeting records formed a composite picture of Quaker attitudes toward dress as an expression of the simplicity testimony. Colonial Friends were largely free to dress as they pleased, although most, both "plain" and "gay", reflected the simplicity testimony in some degree. In the period during and immediately after the Revolutionary War (1777-1810), however, the Philadelphia Monthly Meetings became more stringent, using disciplinary action against members who transgressed in "dress and address." Thereafter, at least until 1850, Friends, both plain and gay, dressed "plainly" in public. These changes in Quaker adult dress never affected the dress of Quaker children. Unlike children of other plain sects, Quaker children did not dress plainly themselves; the decision to wear plain clothes remained an individual commitment. Pictorial and written evidence combined to form a pattern which showed that although American Quakers had sectarian qualities, they remained still "of this world" even during their most withdrawn periods. ^

QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS OF LEUKOCYTE CHEMOTAXIS IN THE MILLIPORE FILTER ASSAY

HELEN MARIE BUETTNER — Wed, 22 May 2013 16:28:41 PDT

Chemotaxis, the biased movement of cells along a chemical gradient, is thought to be important in localizing white blood cells at affected tissue sites during the inflammatory response. As the predominant cell type present in acute inflammation, leukocytes have been a major focus in studies of chemotaxis and inflammation to date. Leukocyte chemotaxis is most frequently studied using in vitro assays, of which the Millipore filter assay is a primary example, to quantitate cell migration in the presence of chemical gradients. However, the quantities typically measured in these assays have not distinguished between the effects of basic cell behavior and those of arbitrary system parameters such as geometry, migration time, initial cell density, and diffusivity and initial concentration of the chemotactic factor.^ To better characterize the intrinsic cell behavior giving rise to a chemotactic response, a recently proposed mathematical model describing the overall chemotactic flux of cells in terms of the observable behavior of individual cells was applied to the Millipore filter assay. The cell behavior is reflected in two key parameters analogous to the diffusion coefficient of a molecular species: (mu), the random motility coefficient, which characterizes random locomotion, and (chi), the chemotaxis coefficient, which characterizes directed locomotion. These parameters were measured in a manner analogous to the measurement of diffusion coefficients: the cell flux expression was solved for the cell density profile as a function of distance and time and fit to experimental cell density profiles measured in the assay.^ The model accurately described the experimental profiles, and (mu) and (chi), which vary with the concentration of chemotactic factor, were measured over the concentration range in which chemotaxis occurred. The values of these parameters measured phenomenologically agreed with those estimated from theoretical relationships for (mu) and (chi) based on parameters of individual cell movement under chemotactic conditions. ^

JEROME'S REVISION OF THE GOSPELS (VULGATE)

REBECCA R HARRISON — Wed, 22 May 2013 16:28:37 PDT

Jerome's revision of the Latin translation(s) of the Gospels, which was commissioned by Pope Damasus, was probably connected with the change from Greek to Latin as the official language for liturgy in the church at Rome. The nature of the revision was influenced by the historical context and in turn reveals what Jerome and others of that period considered important. The purpose of this dissertation is to identify the principles of Jerome's method of revision and to see what insight can be gained thereby.^ The study proceeds by means of a comparative analysis of Jerome's text with the Greek text and with the extant evidence for the Old Latin translation used by him. Chapters 1 and 2 deal with the spelling and declension of the non-Greek names and words occurring in the Gospels. Comparison is made here also with the forms of the same words as transliterated by Jerome from the Hebrew in some of his other works and as they appear in non-scriptural Latin literature. Chapter 3 deals with correspondences and changes in the word order between the Latin and the Greek. In chapter 4, the translation of particular representative words and forms of words is analyzed. The focus of the fifth chapter is the treatment of grammatical and syntactic structures. The final chapter considers Jerome's discussions of variant readings and emendations and how what he says there compares with his earlier edition of the Gospels. The treatment of differences between the form of OT quotations as they appear in the Gospels is also explored.^ These investigations show the relative conservatism of Jerome in his process of revision and the different treatment which he accorded the Gospel text as compared with his translations of non-scriptural works. The nature of the revisions reveals the importance of the two considerations of contemporary exegetical methods and traditions and of the desire for clarity. They also make clear the complex unity of factors involved and the need to consider the revision process as a whole in its historical context. ^